Friday marked the last day of Domestic Violence Awareness month, but we all know the scourge of domestic violence respects no calendar.

Eyes blackened, souls blackened, the sad, repeated story is as old as it is terrifying. Maybe it took Ray Rice's punch, or an elevator videotape and Roger Goodell's incompetence, to get even the most calloused lout to finally click off the game of boys and click onto the game of life. For, if anything, 2014 has become Domestic Violence Awareness Year in American sports.

Yet the more we learn, the more we are vexed by the complexities of interpersonal relationships and meting out fair punishment to those athletes who abuse the ones they supposedly love. They say love is blind. They say justice is blind. When there can be so much he said, she said, changing stories, no witnesses, no elevator cameras, fear of reprisal, fear of loss, etc., how can we be certain we see the entire truth?

Which brings us to Kyle Vinales and his girlfriend of three years.

Led by Vinales, poised to become the school's all-time scoring leader, the Central basketball team appeared ready to shake off some dawdling recent seasons under coach Howie Dickenman. The Blue Devils were picked second in a preseason Northeast Conference poll.

That was before the senior guard was arrested by New Britain police last week for allegedly punching his girlfriend in the forehead and being charged with disorderly conduct and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors. That was before Vinales was suspended indefinitely from the team.

That was before Vinales' girlfriend came forward a few days later insisting she had lied to the police about Vinales striking her.

According to the police report obtained by The Courant, she and Vinales were driving back from Plan B Restaurant when the two argued over her losing her job and Vinales playing music on his cellphone. She said she pulled her car over to the side of Ella Grasso Boulevard, put her hand on Vinales' shoulder and told him to get out of the car. She told police Vinales "punched her on the forehead" and "squeezed [her head] hard causing her pain." She told police she kept yelling, "Please stop." She told police that after she had taken the phone out of his hands, Vinales said we would "sock" her if she didn't return it.

Vinales told police his girlfriend hit him in the chest and the left side of his face. He said he took the palm of his hand and "shoved her face up against the driver's-side window."

She had a bump and a fresh scratch on her forehead, according to the police report, initially wanting to press charges before expressing reluctance by the time she had completed the report.

Vinales, who had no visible injuries, was released without bail and is set to appear in court on Dec. 5.

There is never a good time for a man to strike a woman. Under any circumstances. Yet for Vinales, in a climate where domestic violence involving athletes has reached society's boiling point, he'd be hard-pressed to find a worse time for him. He could be looking at dismissal from the team. Beyond his court case, he could be looking at sanctions from the university.

The days of coaches looking the other way are over. Professional teams and schools, especially state universities, face public scrutiny. Overall, that is a good thing.

In theory, you want to paint with the broad brush. You hit a woman, you are not a real man and you deserve the harshest possible punishment. But what happens when Vinales' girlfriend steps forward to NBC Connecticut and the New Britain Herald and says she lied to police? Do we believe her the first time? Or the second?

Not only did she say Vinales didn't hit her, she is saying the situation is her fault and her forehead injury occurred when she hit her head on the steering wheel when she rear-ended another car shortly after the incident with Vinales. The car accident wasn't mentioned in the police report. She said the only time Vinales touched her was when he had his hands up blocking her blows.

Vinales, who told police the two have lived together for two years, amended his story, too. "I did not hit her," he told NBC Connecticut.

"I won't let him take the fall for something he didn't do," the girlfriend told the New Britain Herald. "He's bigger and stronger, but people are turning him into a monster when he's the victim. The small innocent girl is the monster."

If this were the NFL and not the NEC, this story would be splashed across all the platforms of ESPN. If this were Florida State football and not Central basketball, this case would be food for intense debate across the national sports talk medium. The fact that isn't doesn't make the story any less important or any less complex.

What is happening in New Britain plays against a backdrop to what is happening at Florida State. The Tallahassee Police Department continues to investigate tailback Karlos Williams after he was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, even though she submitted an affidavit asking police to end the investigation. The battery case started when the FSU general counsel emailed a screenshot of a Facebook post to the Tallahassee police chief.

The mother of Williams' son, pregnant with their second child, posted three pictures of a bruised arm alongside the words, "Domestic violence is NEVER okay. I have learned why women keep secrets and [are] scared to come forward. I'm ashamed to say I did the same thing. But I am ready to speak up for women in situations like myself."

… Then she asked police to end the investigation.

Coach Jimbo Fisher played Williams on Thursday night against Louisville. Yet here's the thing. Although Florida State, according to The Associated Press, hasn't said if it will investigate Williams to see if he violated the school's code of conduct, there is a Title IX mandate from the Department of Education that schools investigate all claims of domestic violence. Schools can lose federal funding.

Which again brings us to Vinales and his girlfriend.

Was she telling the truth the first time? Is she telling the truth now? She told NBC Connecticut she was angry and wanted to get Vinales in trouble for previously calling 911. According to the police report, a Sept. 6 call to police for a dispute between them resulted in no arrests.

Experts say women change their stories in domestic violence cases for a variety of reasons. They fear retribution from their partner. They fear for their children. They fear the loss of security, especially if they have no financial independence. Many believe they can change their partner and that he is truly sorry for what happened.

Vinales' girlfriend clearly fears for his basketball future.

"He and CCSU are a family and I can't let that be destroyed," she told the Herald. "The consequences for him are huge right now and it's my fault."

There are statistics out there that say only 2 percent of domestic accusations turn out to be false. There are statistics out there that they say it's 75 percent. That's not a margin of error. That's a hemisphere. When it comes to establishing absolute facts, advocacy groups citing statistics makes me nervous.

Considerable pressure is being applied on professional sports leagues and colleges to punish domestic abusers. This does not give the legal system, which has a spotty record on domestic violence, a pass. Not at all. It starts there.

We are looking at this through the prism of athletics here and ultimately what should happen to Vinales as an athlete. As we sit here today, I have no idea.

Dickenman has been honored for his work with Interval House, for his commitment to ending domestic violence. It is hard to imagine why Central would lift Vinales' suspension before his Dec. 5 court date.

And his girlfriend? Telling the Herald she didn't know what her future relationship with Vinales would be, she said she gave a new statement to the prosecutor.

"[The prosecutor] was confident charges will be pressed against me and everything will be dropped against Kyle," the woman told the Herald.

Love is blind.

Justice is blind.

In the case of Kyle Vinales and his girlfriend, will we ever see the truth?